SAC or GAC????

[smg1062]

I just read a post from parents that had a Special Assistance Card (SAC) for their autistic child...is this different from GAC????

 

[SueM in MN]

It's the same thing.
At WDW, the card has been called the Guest Assistance Card (we call it GAC for short) for maybe 5 years. It was previously called a Guest Assistance Pass at both WDW and DL. There were some changes made recently to the GAC (there's a thread further down about it) and it's possible they may have changed the name from GAC to Special Assistance Card (SAC) at that time.

It's basically a quick way to let CMs know about the need for assistance with invisible disabilities. It isn't meant to (and doesn't) give immediate access. Examples of types of assistance it would give might be, allowing a stroller to be used as a wheelchair (which allows it to be brought in queues and buildings where strollers are not usually allowed), a place to wait out of the sun and/or heat. Some one with a wheelchair or ecv does not need a GAC (or SAC, if that's the name now) unless they have other needs besides mobility.

 

[Safari Steve]

Still GAC. The recent changes were only meant to simplify and streamline the process.

If you have a mobility concern and you do not have a wheelchair, it is highly reccomended that you rent a wheelchair or an ECV to get around. Without even visiting any attractions, rides, or shows, you will do a phenomenal amount of walking and standing.

Be prepared to explain your assistance needs in simple-yet specific terms. Do not tell the CM what kind of stamp you want or that you "can't wait in lines." that is not what the cards are for, and that phrase means nothing.

If you have a broken arm or wrist, you do not need a GAC, and you will not use the entrance for guests with disabilities. An injured arm will in no way impair your ability to experience WDW attractions.
(you'd be surprised how often we've been seeing that lately...)

 

[Talking Hands]

Steve,
I have to disagree with you here. We came to Dosney a few days ofter my oldest had major wrist and arm surgery. It was still in a sling and being iced and she was still weak enough to need a wheelchair. We used alternative lines to avoid her being jostled and causing her more pain. She was limited that trip to shows and very mild rides. Castmembers were great! First aide was great refilling ice packs! Without alternative access the trip would have had to been cancelled for all of us. An injured arm can definately affect your enjoyment of the parks if severe enough.

 

[Safari Steve]

There are always rare exceptions, and your family certainly experienced extenuating circumstances. I had to spend an entire summer in a full arm cast, and while it was a bit of a challenge, there would have been no need for me (or most people in that situation) to have any special assistance at a theme park.

 

[travelitis]

Safari Steve - some advice please!!!

One of my children and I have not only mobility issues but pain issues. My son is on the verge of being pulled out of public school because the day is too long and his pain level too high. Suffice it to say that it takes us twice as long to do half of what we did when the kids were 2, 6, and 8. I have to be in an ECV while my dh pushes the youngest in a stroller. The other son with mobility problems is 12, too big now to sit in a double stroller which we had to pad because any hard surface is painful. We can't get the grandparents to join us on our next trip, and they couldn't push a kid anyway. There's no family to help. In addition, we're both in almost non-stop pain. At least I can take vicodin, but he can't take anything other than Tylenol. Noise is painful and tiring, so my son is excused from all pep rallies at school. He's gotten worse and has to go see a specialist several hours away and was in the hospital just 3 weeks ago. I can get a letter from his rheumatologist along with an explanation of what his illness entails and what the doctor thinks would be helpful. This still doesn't address the fact he can't walk the parks and his very small 9 yr. old brother can push only a little. If I send enough medical information and a letter, can we get a pass in advance? I'm pretty sure I'm going to be logging some First Aid Center time for him to lie down. We go to the parks mid-late morning and don't stay until close, because we get too stiff and sore. I've never felt like we needed to be able to get in and out of the attractions in less time, but that's where we are. Thanksgiving 02 he was hurting so much that he asked to go back to the hotel and lie in bed instead of spending time in the parks. That's a kid who is really sick, because my kids are Disney nuts! Still, it's the best family vacation we can find. I don't know how I'm going to make this more liveable unless the 12 yr. old has a wheelchair and the 5 yr. old takes my lap. I'm very accustomed to her having to do that for the sake of crowd control and pain mgmt. My whole family really wants to take this Easter trip, and I do too, but I'm at a loss. My son and I really are fighting almost non-stop pain and fatigue that is pretty severe. We take it slow and schedule character meals and sit-down eateries to help, but that's not going to be enough.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. If it were just him or me or the other 2 were older, it'd be manageable without resorting to asking for a GAC. (very hard for me to do)

Thanks,
Gale

 

[Safari Steve]

If noise and hard surfaces cause too much pain, there are only a handful of attractions at WDW that don't involve either.
I am not allowed to suggest a particular kind of GAC. That is up to the CM you deal with in person at WDW Guest Relations. However, I'm not sure any of them would be helpful because it sounds like the experience of being in a theme park, unfortunately, is a painful ordeal.
Just to reiterate -and I hate to beat this point to death- there is no GAC that will bypass all (or even most) attraction wait times or get you on to attractions considerably faster than other guests. That is not the purpose of the GAC and it never was.
Rent or bring a wheelchair, some pillows, and some earplugs/earmuffs. That would be more helpful than any GAC, imo. If you need to use a stroller as a wheelchair, go to Guest Relations for permission to do that.
Sorry I can't be more helpful on this subject.

 

[SueM in MN]

In between when I was typing and when I got back from my computer going off-line, I see Safari Steve answered. I'll still leave what I typed before he replied.
I do know that the only way you can get a GAC is to bring the person with the disability to Guest Services. They don't give them out in advance or if the person is not present.
I've also been told by CMs at Guest Services that they can't request/require medical information or a doctor's letter because of the ADA. The letter may help you to keep focused on what would be helpful, but the CMs are most likely to tell you they are not allowed look at it. And, as Steve mentioned, if a pep rally is too much noise, most of the rides/attraction at WDW are not going to be comfortable to him. Also, going at Easter, we find that all the extra activity and crowd "busy-ness" make the parks a much more exhausting place to be than at quieter times.

I saw on your signature that you have been to WDW at Easter time, so you do know what to expect. If at all possible, I'd suggest going at a different time. We've found when we go during Spring break that a little before or after Easter can make a big difference in the crowds.
If you do decide to rent a wheelchair for your DS, I'd suggest getting a pediatric (child sized) from one of the off-site rental places. Even if he is a large 12 year old, the off-site rental places will have one that would have a better, more supportive seat, a narrower seat that fits him better and foot and armrests at the correct places for him. The off-site rental ones are also much lighter weight, which would be easier to push. Just having the right wheelchair can make a tremendous difference in pain level and ability to tolerate the trip. You can talk to his doctor about getting one - it's possible that insurance might even pay for it with a doctor's prescription. If he works with an OT or PT, they could help you with what type and size of wheelchair.

That still doesn't address who would push his wheelchair, which is probably a much bigger problem than the wait in lines. Since there is so much distance between rides/attractions, you still have to deal with the "getting from place to place" issue. If I were in your shoes, I'd probably have the 9 year old push the stroller, since that would be much easier for a 9 year old to manage and have your DH push the wheelchair. If I understand right, your children are 5, 9 and 12. Even though you are thinking the 5 year old needs a stroller, you may find that with your slow pace and short days a 5 year old can keep up. We went to WDW for the first time when youngest DD was 1 and oldest was 4. We only had one stroller, which the 4 yr old was too big to ride in. The next time we went was when the older DD was just 6 and the younger one was almost 3 with her own wheelchair. So, we never had a stroller for oldest DD (and she is not the most physically active child). But because our pace was slow and we stopped a lot, she did just fine. We explained to her that we could not get a stroller and that we would stop when she got too tired to walk. Besides that, my younger DD threatened to push her in the lake at Epcot when she complained. We did not get much complaining then.

 

[travelitis]

Here's the true root of my frustration. Going to a Disney CM at Guest Services without a doctor's letter is like going to the post office to buy auto parts, because the CM's stare blankly, having no idea what this illness is. If your physical challenge is invisible, even at WDW, you're looked at suspiciously. I don't want to be treated better than other guests, but I would like to be treated as well which neccessitates a doctor's letter. We most certainly were treated as "less than" and as an inconvenience by several CM's on our last family trip. We ran into others experiencing the same thing. The GAC is useless when CM's refuse to honor it, ignore you, gripe about it, or question why you'd even be at Disney. (These ALL happened!)

Why don't we do something else for a vacation? Can you think of something any better, because we're open for suggestions! I'm tired of people acting like we're faking it or that we're so lucky to have an ECV in the group like you get some special privileges. Yes, we get to take longer to get from place to place. I get to pop vicodin and still hurt, and my son who has the same pain gets to take regular Tylenol only because of gastrointestinal bleeding for which he was recently hospitalized.

Noise - This is part of the sensory overload issue. - Disorganized and random noise is what is really bad. Watching a movie, listening to a book on tape is good, but the TV or radio on for hours or being in a place where people are talking or yelling (baseball game) just causes intense pain. No one but doctors seems to understand this either. The noise out in the open walking between attractions is unobtrusive, but put someone with this problem in the middle of the maze with people all around in close quarters, and it can cause immediate, excruciating pain. Getting on the attraction, even loud ones like Dinosaur, is a relief because all the random chatter isn't piercing you anymore. It sounds weird, I know, but it's not completely about volumn. To keep noise (sensory) overload down, we do sit-down meals and avoid attractions when they have long lines. We don't do Illuminations or Fantasmic, and we've taken a fireworks cruise. We have an extensive list of coping techniques, many that cost us more money. We NEED the option of waiting in an alternate location away from bright light or the non-stop chatter when a wait is going to be, say, 30 minutes or so and my son is aching. If a 10 minute wait is too much, then we're headed out of the park or to first aid anyway. Ear plugs sound like the solution, but they don't totally fix it, and they get lost easily. I don't know why, but you can feel the noise, and the only way to make it better is to get outside away from it. I hate the big pavillions in Epcot when they're busy and have limited tolerance for being in them because of that. Among the worst lines (using Fastpass even) are Test Track and Space Mtn. Good lines for us have been Kali River Rapids (now that it's wider) and Haunted Mansion.

When I didn't need to spend less time in the parks and certainly didn't desire to go ahead of anyone, Disney was constantly, to my embarrassment, sending me to the head of the line via a special line. I even would tell CM's to let others who had been waiting longer in the other line to go and would just turn away if a line was long to avoid that scenario. Now that I have a child who needs about twice the rest and half the activity of normal kids just so he can cope with the non-stop pain, we often end up waiting longer than those without any health issues. I can't tell you how many times we went to the special entrance in the MK with our GAC and watched people who walked up after we did get on the ride before us. Perhaps the rides are less staffed, or maybe CM's are so accustomed to mainstreaming that when they work the attractions that aren't, they forget. I do know that we weren't the only ones running into that.

This all adds up to now needing special accomodations through a GAC, because hidden disabilities are more pronounced handicaps at WDW than in school and at home. If it weren't for Mission Space, we might stand a chance of talking the kids into a cruise instead of anther Disney year. One trip breeds more trips, and by the end of the 1st one, my dh will be declaring (once again) that he's done with Disney. It's my job to find a way to preserve his sanity on this trip that he, in a momentary mental lapse, suggested.

I was hoping to get an idea of what they can do on a GAC, but instead I'll talk to the rheumatologist and have him specify what should be done and why.

Just needed to vent, because I love Disney but am dreading this.

 

[Safari Steve]

I am not allowed to (read: I will lose my job if I...) give any suggestions regarding messages on a GAC. We are certainly allowed to read doctors notes, but they are not necessary. If you do get a doctor to write a note, make sure they use terms a layperson can understand regarding specific services that would be helpful (again, nothing is offered that will bypass all attraction queues or wait times.) CMs at the attractions are trained to read and respond to the message on the GAC, not to pass judgement or refuse service (recently, this is being constantly audited and reiterated to the cast. With 5000+ per park, there will be a few unavoidable inconsistencies, but they are being worked on.)
Everyone who has posted to this thread has done so with good intentions, and -quite honestly- the two best pieces of advice on the subject are 1) don't go during Easter or any other busy times & 2) do what you can to make the unavoidable moments in "unprotected" areas more comfortable (like get a comfortable chair to use, bring a pillow or two for hard ride vehicle seats, pack earplugs to help deal with the din in public areas, etc).

A GAC will probably help, and you will be issued the one that the CM thinks will best assist you, but there is no GAC that will keep you in a vaccum your entire visit. You have some major difficulties to deal with, but no one at WDW -or on this board- is out to get you or see you fail.

 

[SueM in MN]

Originally posted by Safari Steve
We are certainly allowed to read doctors notes, but they are not necessary. If you do get a doctor to write a note, make sure they use terms a layperson can understand regarding specific services that would be helpful (again, nothing is offered that will bypass all attraction queues or wait times.)

I had some wrong information.
I wrote:

I've also been told by CMs at Guest Services that they can't request/require medical information or a doctor's letter because of the ADA. The letter may help you to keep focused on what would be helpful, but the CMs are most likely to tell you they are not allowed look at it.

I know for sure that the ADA states that you cannot be forced to prove you need accomidation (so you can't be forced to have a letter from the doctor. I used to write in replies that although a doctor's letter was not needed, if you brought one, to have it in layperson terms (like Steve suggests above). We were told a few years ago that the CM would not look at a copy of DD's IEP. And some people have written to me (but a while ago) that they were told the CM was not permitted to llok at their MD letter. So, whether I misunderstood, they misunderstood, or the policy changed from they could read letters to not being able to and back again, thanks Steve for setting things straight.

 

[MadisonMom]

My 7 YO DS is autistic. He is really bothered by loud noises. He uses earplugs that I found at the home improvement store in the powertool section. They have a plastic headpiece like headphones, but with removable earplugs. They are inexpensive (around $5). These earplugs have been really helpful for him. Since using them, he's gone to movies, used public restrooms, gone to school assemblies, etc. - all things he wouldn't do until the earplugs. Now we're planning his first visit to WDW! We won't forget his earplugs of course .

-Molly

 

[travelitis]

Madison Mom - These sound like they're harder to lose than the ones we found, so those are worth trying.

Our neighbors have an autistic child, and even with the noise control, he really couldn't be in a line with others. IMHO, he shouldn't even have to wait, and I'd gladly let families with kids like him go before me, no matter when they entered the line. I've always felt that way, though. Whenever we've had to enter the alternate entrance, if there's someone else who we think has it harder than we do, we send them ahead of us. I also have found many people who aren't dealing with any disability to be very kind and helpful. The last family trip, guests were better than CM's.

From what you've said, Steve and Sue, I could've gotten some CM's in trouble had I gone to a manager. If it happens next time, I'll remind them of ADA regulations and give them the chance to rethink their words before I go to a manager. I definitely won't just let it slide if a CM tells me he won't issue a GAC because he can't SEE the disability. (which is exactly what one said)

The busy times have their disadvantages, but they have one thing in their favor - the hours are longer. That allows our family to take Disney in small, slow bites. I prefer the off-season, but we've found the smaller crowds don't make up for the shorter hours, because it takes us longer to get from place to place than it does to get through the lines. It also means we have less time to have a mid-day rest. Keep in mind that we don't usually make it to the parks until 10:00 a.m. - noon, because I'm too achey and stiff. Our schools also aren't forgiving about missing school for vacation. Our only definitely viable options are Easter, Thanksgiving, and summer, with Thanksgiving being the lesser of the evils. Maybe by then health issues will be better, as FMS/CFS can wax and wane.

 

[smg1062]

Great trip (Xmas/New years). We got the GAC the first park we went to. It really helped with our son, who has a hard time with long lines and wait times. Thanks to all that gave me advice/tips............

Steve